'St. Denis Medical' Reviews: Medical Comedy Has the Right Vitals

         On November 12, 2024, NBC premiered 'St. Denis Medical', which has earned rave reviews from critics. In the series, "Devoted nurse Alex has just been promoted to Supervising Nurse in the emergency department at St. Denis Medical Center in Oregon. She works alongside an eclectic team of underfunded yet dedicated doctors, nurses and hospital staff, including her boss, Joyce, who wants nothing more than to turn the hospital into an international medical destination, and Dr. Ron, who's done it all, seen it all and is pretty much over it all. They're all doing their best not to lose their patience in a hospital overrun with patients -- while caring for everyone who comes in the door, including each other." The ensemble cast includes Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, and Mekki Leeper. But what did the critics say?

        Kelcie Mattson of Collider notes, "St. Denis Medical hails from showrunner Eric Ledgin (Superstore, American Auto) and his co-creator Justin Spitzer (The Office, Superstore). Based on the six episodes provided for review (out of 18 total), the pair's latest collaboration nails the anarchy required for a weekly mockumentary series. For every perplexing health condition that needs fixing, St. Denis' pandemonium-prone ensemble also finds themselves stuck solving an outrageously silly B plot." Adding, "Given Ledgin and Spitzer's past credits, this format is old hat for them, but it's still impressive to see St. Denis hit the ground running with self-aware assurance and a satisfyingly snappy pace. Many dilemmas faced by the St. Denis staff are either standard practice for the healthcare industry or a relatable side effect of corporate culture — a counterintuitive but realistic balance that St. Denis takes extra glee in exploiting. Joyce's optimistic goals and go-getter attitude frequently clash with the messy day-to-day practicalities of everything a hospital floor requires; as someone with family members in the industry, when Joyce insisted that St. Denis install a $300,000 3D mammogram device, only for the state-of-the-art machine to fry the building's entire computer system, this writer cackled at the accuracy."

       Nicole Gallucci of Decider says, "St. Denis Medical feels familiar, but it radiates an infectious energy all its own. Like a patient who bounces back from a code blue, it’s here to remind us that when done right, network sitcoms have a lot of life left in them." Continuing, "After the Ruben Fleischer-directed pilot, which successfully finds meaning in the mundane, there’s no doubt that comedy lovers will want to be admitted to St. Denis Medical every week. Since NBC canceled American Auto after just two seasons, however, the challenge will be whether or not the broadcast sitcom can find its audience fast enough to survive in the age of streaming. Fingers crossed."

Photo by Yasaman Abedini on Unsplash

           Daniel Fienberg of Hollywood Reporter writes, "Tolman is particularly good as the everywoman at the center of this assemblage of wacky medics: exasperated but caring, devoted to her profession yet vaguely agog by everything she’s watching unfold. Grier expertly blends grouchy and avuncular, skeptical and devoted, without making either extreme feel like a cliché. The character work is less finely balanced elsewhere. Especially in the pilot, St. Denis Medical seems not to get that while a bumbling newbie archetype like Leeper’s Matt can be very funny in a workplace context, the humor doesn’t apply in medical situations where lives hang in the balance. But subsequent chapters refine Matt’s oddness, and when the stakes are lower — as when he questions the faith of the hospital chaplain, or tries to get two patients from a nearby prison to resolve their differences — his naivete plays much better. Similarly, there’s a broadness to McLendon-Covey’s Joyce in the premiere — she tries to inspire employees with a cheerleading routine ending in a cartwheel — that subsequently gets toned down."